Page 23 of Afflicted

“You jealous?” She asks, her voice low.

“You know the rules.” I tower over her, enjoying this power play far too much. “What was going on in there isn’t allowed.”

She smiles bitterly, nodding. “Sure, that’s exactly what’s going on here.” She looks me up and down, her nose wrinkling. “I bet you feeders can’t even get it up, you’re all bloodless and dead, right?” She’s practically touching me now, her heartbeat thundering barely an inch from me. “Can you get hard, Silas?”

If she wants to play this game, I’m more than up for it. I grin down at her. “You think about that a lot, do you?”

Her eyebrows flicker upwards in surprise before a look of disgust crosses her face. “Fuck you.”

“Well, that would be the idea, wouldn’t it?” I’m so close to her now that her scent is overwhelming. I look her up and down before meeting her furious gaze again. “And yes, I can get hard. Maybe even hard enough to make you scream.”

She steps forward and slaps me, her open palm slamming into my cheek. I saw it coming a mile off, and I grab a hold of her wrist, yanking her flush against my body. She lets out a surprised yelp, blinking up at me before her face sets back into that beautiful, stormy fury.

“Let go of me!”

I inhale her scent deeply, exhaling through my gritted teeth. “This is the second time you’ve slapped me. I’m starting to think that’s a bit of a kink of yours.”

She bucks in my grasp, pressing her scantily clad body against my chest. “I said, letgo.”

I lower my mouth to her ear, snapping my teeth just shy of her earlobe. “Keep doing that and I’ll definitely be hard.”

She shoves against my chest with an outraged gasp, and I finally let her go. Her shoulders are heaving, and her eyes are blazing with fury.

“Don’t fucking look at me, don’t look at me, don’t think about me, nothing, OK? I amnothingto you. Just another bloodbag.”

Matt appears at her back, and he takes her hand. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, it’s fine,” Juliet replies, and stalks off towards the dorm.

I watch her go. The other vamps turn to look at me questioningly, and I shrug. “Bloodbags, ey? So emotional.”

They all chuckle, nod, murmur their agreement, before dispersing.

The night continues on, uneventfully. When I go to Sam’s cabin once my shift is over, I don’t wait for her to open the door. I throw it almost off its hinges, before I pin her down on the bed and fuck her until she can’t even scream anymore.

* * *

After almost twoweeks of rain, the garden team is outside again, working in the sunshine. They’re all in good spirits, and I traipse around aimlessly, just watching them.

I walk along the repaired perimeter fence, and I’m grateful there haven’t been any more attacks. They’re always exhausting, the fighting and the repairs afterwards. And the fear that one of those Afflicted will get a bite in on us. I’ve seen first-hand what it can do. It’s an ugly, painful thing, and I never want to experience that myself.

I wander down the hill towards the tree line, listening to the humans laugh and chatter. Nothing changes much from childhood - give humans a pile of dirt, the ability to grow something, and some sunshine, and they’re happy. I remember feeling that way, those summer days as a child. All those years ago now, when my parents bought that little house with the garden on the outskirts of London. Etching pictures in the sandbox while Harriet spun her ribbons through the warm summer air.

I spot a wheelbarrow abandoned next to the compost pile, and look back up towards the garden. Juliet had taken off with that, but I can’t see her anywhere now. Her loverboy is scheduled for donation today, so she hasn’t gone anywhere with him.

I move closer to the tree line, wondering if she’s headed in there. I can’t see her. I keep walking, moving under the shade of the canopy. Birds sing to each other from the boughs of the trees, and the ground underfoot is soft from all the rain.

After a minute or so I can hear water, rushing loudly. Then splashing. I move quietly towards the sound, and come upon a stream, swollen from the plentiful rainfall.

Juliet is lying in the depths, water up to her neck, her clothes on a nearby rock. Her eyes are closed, the sunshine breaking through the trees glimmering on the bubbling water around her. She’s smiling.

I keep moving towards her, silently, just watching her. She’s so fucking beautiful. Goddammit, I should leave. I should just let her have this moment, but she’s like a magnet. I stop at the water’s edge, and because she hasn’t heard my advance she’s just lying there, totally relaxed.

I look over her naked body in the water, the sunlight playing across her freckled skin. She’s stunning. She’s perfect. She shifts a little, her thighs opening ever so slightly, and the sight is enough to almost bring me to my knees.

Her eyes flutter open, widening as soon as she sees me. With a scream, she scrambles out of the water to clutch her wet clothes to her body.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

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